A Kent County panel on Tuesday recommended a contract allowing three more road patrols in the township, which has seen an increase in crime during the past decade.

The move follows a similar one last week by the county board’s Legislative and Human Resources Committee, which also recommended the added patrols. County Commissioners will have the final say on the matter at their regular full board meeting next week.

Commissioner Jim Saalfeld, R-Grand Rapids Township, made clear the recommendation was not connected to a Jan. 6 incident when more than 30 shots were fired at a Streams of Hope Ministry youth event at 280 60th Street SE. Sheriff’s investigators suspect several weapons were used during the incident, which saw ministry member MarShon Peoples sustain a gunshot wound to the back of his head.

Commissioner Bill Hirsch, R-Gaines Township, said recently the incident illustrates the need for further police protection in the township. But Saalfeld during Tuesday’s Finance Committee meeting made it clear the added patrols come at the request of Gaines officials, and were in the works long before the incident earlier this month.

“This is not connected with any particular incident,” Saalfeld said Tuesday. “This is something the locals decided.”

Gaines Township first considered the added patrols in September when Kent County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff DeVries told officials their law enforcement efforts were at a “bare bones minimum.” He said call volume in the township of nearly 25,000 residents has increased 15 percent since 2000.

DeVries told commissioners last week the Streams of Hope incident reflected a growing number of gang-related incidents in the township “bleeding out of Kentwood and Grand Rapids,” citing two or three drive-by shootings in Gaines Township last year and seven gang-related shootings in Kentwood and Grand Rapids in recent months.

Saalfeld also noted arrangements for dedicated sheriff’s patrols with townships are common, with the townships paying the added costs of salaries and benefits and the county picking up ancillary costs. Gaines Township will pay the county $216,144 annually for the added patrols.

The township currently has one dedicated patrol car around the clock, but the added service will allow two cars to patrol 12 hours a day and a single car patrolling the other 12 hours of the day.